Hydraulic barker for slabs



Dec. 31, 1946. sw 2,413,341

HYDRAULIC BARKER FOR SLABS Filed June 2, 1944 s Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

FRANK H.SWlFT n -cnl-ul-|-l-l- IN V EN TOR.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 .FRANK H. SWIFT W d F. H. SWIFT Filed June 2, 1944.

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Dec. 31, 1946.

HYDRAULIC BARKER FOR SLABS Dec. 31, 1946. F, sw FT 2,413,341

HYDRAULIC BARKER FOR SLABS Filed June 2, 1944 Q 3 Sheets-Sheet S WW'FPWWW F INVENTOR.

FRANK H. SWIFT BY Wham Patented Dec. 31, 1946 HYDRAULIC BARKER FOR SLABS Frank H. Swift, Portland, reg., assignor to Crown Zellerbach Corporation, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of Nevada Application June 2, 1944, Serial No. 538,360

9 Claims. 1

This invention relates to the removal of bark from slabs and from similar saw mill waste.

Heretofore a considerable amount of such material has not been employed for any purpose other than fuel. While portions of such saw mill waste from time to time have been used for making wood pulp, the necessary removal of bark from the slabs has proved so expensive and wasteful, when done by mechanical means, that the use of such slabs and mill waste for wood pulp has, in general, been considered impractical and unprofitable.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple, practical and economical means for removing bark from slabs and the like in order to enable such mill waste to be utilized profitably for wood pulp.

A further object of this invention is to provide a slab barker in which hydraulic means, in place of mechanical means, will be employed for removing the bark so as to eliminate the excessive waste of material incurred when the customary mechanical means is employed and also to reduce the labor cost necessitated by the use of mechanical debarking means.

An additional object of this invention is to construct a hydraulic barker which is specifically adapted and designed for the debarking of slabs, which will be easy to install and maintain and which will require a minimum amount of labor in its operation.

The manner in which the above mentioned objects and other advantages are obtained, and the construction and method of operation of my barker will be explained hereafter briefly with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the barker;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing in section a pair of the discs and spacer, which discs help hold the slabs in place during the debarking.

The slabs II) are moved through the barker by suitable endless conveyor chains or belts I I which may be provided with lugs or spurs or any other means for engaging the slabs. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the chains run parallel with each other and are set fairly close together so that even narrow slabs and slabs with V-shaped sawed surfaces can be accommodated and will be held in position so that their surfaces from which the bark is to be removed will be held uppermost.

The conveyor chains pass over sprocket wheels or pulleys I2 and I3 at the ends of the barker and are supported in between on tracks I4 and I 5 at top and bottom respectively. Suitable cooperating means are provided by the chains and by the upper and lower tracks in order to keep the chains from slipping sideways off the tracks. The sprocket wheels I3 at the forward end of the barker, are mechanically driven by means of a sprocket chain drive I6 connected with a power transmission I! which, in turn is connected with a motor drive (not shown) for the entire barker.

A hydraulic debarkin nozzle I8 is secured to the bottom end of the pipe I9 and the pipe I9 is suspended from and connected to the delivery pipe line 20 by a suitable universal joint so as to enable the lower end of the pipe I9 to swing in any direction and at the same time permitting waterunder pressure from the delivery pipe 20 to pass into the pipe I9 and thus be delivered to the debarking nozzle I 8.

Swinging motion is imparted to the pipe I9 and nozzle I8 through the medium of an arm 2| (Figs. 1 and 3), one end of which is connected to the nozzle through a ball-and-socket joint 22 and the other end of which is connected by a similar ball-and-socket joint 23 to a cross head 24 which is carried by and joins a pair of identical, parallelly-mounted sprocket chains 25 and 26. The sprocket chains 25 and 26 are mounted on sprocket Wheels as shown in Fig. 1 and are driven in unison from the main drive shaft 28 through the intermediary of a pair of drive chains 29 and 30, which impart rotation to the stub shafts SI and 32 respectively. The drive shaft 28 is driven by the motor (not shown) operating the entire barker. The power transmission I1 is connected to the drive shaft 28 by the sprocket chain 21.

It will be apparent that if the debarking nozzle I8, when reciprocated back and forth across the path of travel of the slabs by the arm 2|, is moved in a line exactly normal to the line of travel of the slabs and while the slabs are moving, the result would be the removal of the bark in oblique, zig-zag paths across the slabs unless the forwardmovement of the slabs were made intermittent. In order to overcome this difiiculty and in order to enable the slabs to be moved forward through the barker at a constant rate of speed, and thus avoid the necessity of providing for intermittent or interrupted travel of the slabs, I have provided a special means by which the nozzle will be caused to travel obliquely across the slabs while the slabs are in motion, the direction of travel of the nozzle being so arranged, with respect to the forward direction of travel of the slabs, that the resultant of the two directions in which the nozzle is moved will form a path across the moving slabs exactly normal to their line of travel. This results in the removal of the bark in adjacent parallel paths from the top exposed slab surfaces.

The means by which this is accomplished includes a guideway 33 movable in a horizontal plane, which guideway consists of a pair of parallel rods supported at each end in a pair of sliding end plates 34. The end plates 34 are slidably mounted in bifurcated supporting members 35 secured to the top frame of the barker. A chain 36, connected to the end plates 34 at one side, passes around the pulleys 3'! and 38 mounted at fixed points in the top of the barker. On the opposite side the two short lengths of chain 39 and 40, connected to the end plates of the guideway respectively, pass around similar pulleys, and are connected to the extremities of a reciprocating rod 4| actuated by a piston in the compressed air cylinder 42. A pair of pipes 43 and 44 are connected to opposite ends of the air cylinder 42, and, by acting alternately as delivery and exhaust ports, produce reciprocation of the rod 4|. Fig. 1 shows the reciprocating rod 4| at the end of its travel in one direction and the resulting positioning of the guideway 33. It will be apparent that the movement of the rod 4| to its limit in the opposite direction will cause the position of the guideway 33 to be reversed with respect to a line normal to the line of travel of the slabs. The pipe |9 extends through a block 45 which is slidable in the guideway 33.

Delivery of air automatically through the pipes 43 and 44 to the air cylinder 42 takes place through a control valve 46 which is connected by a pipe 41 to a source of compressed air and which also has a port 48 exhausting to the atmosphere. The control valve 46 is operated by a lever 49. A bar 50 is connected to the lever 49 by a ball-and-socket joint and the other end of the bar 50 is similarly connected to the pipe l9. Thus the swinging of the pipe l9 and the nozzle |8 to one extreme position causes the valve 46 to be operated to connect one of the pipes 43 or 44 to the supply pipe 41 and the other pipe to be connected to the exhaust outlet 48, and the swinging of pipe l9 and nozzle |8 to the other extreme position reverses the connections to the pipes 43 and 44.

Since the force of the jet from the debarking nozzle |8 causes the bark on the upper surface of the slabs to be splintered into small fragments and these to be scattered in all directions, I provide a housing over the barker. This housing includes a pair of upright walls and 52 (Fig. 2), side extensions 53 and 54 joined to the bottom of the upper walls 5| and 52 respectively, top plates 55 and 56, upright extensions 51 and 58 connected to the top plates 55 and 56 respectively, flaps 59 of rubber or other similar flexible material, the free bottom ends of which flaps bear against the tops of the slabs, and a pair of similar flaps 60 designed to keep the opening around the swinging pipe I!) closed.

A shield 80, having sloping top surfaces, is placed below the top tracks for the conveyor chains beneath the nozzle path in order to defiect the bark splinters which drop from the slabs down below the sides of the barker and into a suitable receptacle or other collecting means (not shown).

In order to remove from the debarked slabs any bark splinters which may remain thereon or become deposited thereon, I provide a shower pipe 6| extending transversely above the debarked slabs in the location shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

As a further means of holding the slabs in place on the conveyor chains I provide two rows of discs 62 adapted to ride on the top of the slabs and thus prevent any tendency of the slabs to bounce oil of the conveyor chains when subjected to the force of the jet from the nozzle. Each row of such discs 62 is mounted on a transversely extending bar 63, and suitable spacers 64 are supported on the bar and arranged alternately with the discs 62 in order to keep the discs from sliding sideways. The discs 62 have enlarged circular cut out portions of considerably greater diameter than the supporting bar 63 so as to permit the discs to move up and down and thus rest on the top of the slabs even though the slabs are of various shapes and sizes. See also Fig. 4.

The operation of my slab barker is a very simple matter. The slabs are placed on the conveyor chains at the left hand end of the machine (as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2) and, after having the bark removed, leave the machine at the right hand end. Since the forward movement of the slabs is constant and is synchronized with the reciprocal movement of the debarking nozzle, and since the reciprocal movement of the nozzle in turn automatically produces the necessary adjustment of guideway 33 so as to cause the jet from the nozzle to follow parallel adjacent paths transversely across the top of the slabs, no further control of the debarking operation is necessary while the slabs are in the machine.

The fact that the arm 2|, producing the reciprocal movement of the debarking nozzle, is actuated by the parallel endless chains 25 and 26, is a considerable advantage since this arrangement prevents undue shock or jarring when the nozzle reaches the end of its stroke and its movement is reversed, and this construction enables rapid reciprocal movement to be imparted to the nozzle through a simple and compact mechanism.

Due to the simplicity of construction and the relatively small size of my slab barker my device can be set up .in any desired location Wherever an adequate water suppply is available, and thus it can be conveniently set up in an ordinary saw mill so that slabs can be debarked as they are discarded from the mill.

Modifications could be made in the construction of the different parts of my slab barker within the scope of my invention and such modifications are intended to be included in the elements of the claims. However, I consider the construction illustrated to be practical and desirable, particularly because of its simplicity and the eificient manner in which the bark can be removed from the slabs of various sizes and shapes.

I claim:

1. In a slab barker, means for moving the slabs longitudinally through the barker, a hydraulic debarking nozzle, said nozzle positioned above said slab moving means and adapted to discharge a debarking jet downwardly on the slabs, means for delivering water under pressure to said nozzle, means for moving said nozzle back and forth across the path of said slabs, a movably mounted guideway, said nozzle slidably attached to said guideway and arranged so as to move along said guideway causing said guideway to direct the course of said nozzle in its back and forth movement, said guideway mounted to swing in a plane parallel to the plane in which said slabs move,

mechanism attached to said guideway for positioning said guideway obliquely with respect to the line of movement of the slabs and for alternating said oblique position at each reversal of movement of said nozzle, and a control for said mechanism connected with said nozzle.

2. In a slab barker, conveyor chains for moving the slabs longitudinally through the barker, a hydraulic debarking nozzle, said nozzle positioned above said conveyor chains and adapted to discharge a debarking jet downwardly on the slabs, a delivery pipe connected to said nozzle, means for swinging said pipe and nozzle back and forth across the path of said slabs, said means including an arm having one end connected to said nozzle, mechanism connected to the other end of said arm for moving said arm alternately in opposite directions, a movably mounted guideway, said nozzle slidably attached to said guideway and arranged so as to move along said guideway causing said guideway to direct the course of said nozzle in its back and forth swing, said guideway mounted to swing in a plane parallel to the plane in which said slabs move, means for positioning said guideway obliquely with respect to the line of movement of the slabs and for alternating the position of said guideway at each reversal of movement of said nozzle, an air cylinder included in said latter mentioned means, a reciprocating piston operated by said air cylinder, said piston connected to said guideway so as to move said guideway into said alternate oblique positions in said plane, a control for the delivery of air into said cylinder connected with said pipe and nozzle, and a main power drive for said barker, said conveyor chains and said mechanism operated from said main power drive.

3. In a slab barker of the character described, conveyor chains for moving the slab longitudinally through the barker, a hydraulic debarking nozzle, said nozzle positioned above said conveyor chains and adapted to discharge a debarking jet downwardly on the slabs, means for delivering water under pressure to said nozzle, an arm having one end connected to said nozzle, said arm acting to move said nozzle back and forth across the path of said slabs, a pair of parallelly-mounted chains driven in unison, a cross member connected to said chains, said arm connected to said cross member, guiding means, said nozzle slidably attached to said guiding means and arranged so as to move along said guiding meanscausing said guiding means to direct the course of said nozzle in its back and forth movement, said guiding means mounted to swing in a plane parallel to the plane in which said slabs move, mechanism attached to said guiding means for positioning said guiding means obliquely with respect to the line of movement of the slabs and for alternating the position of said guiding means at each reversal of movement of said nozzle, a control for said mechanism connected with said nozzle, and a main power drive for said barker, said conveyor chains and said pair of parallelly-mounted chains operated from said main power drive.

4. In a slab barker of the character described, means for moving the slabs longitudinally through the barker, a hydraulic debarking nozzle, said nozzle positioned above said slab moving means and adapted to discharge a debarking jet downwardly on the slabs, a delivery pipe connected to said nozzle, a supply pipe line connected to said delivery pipe, said delivery pipe suspended from said pipe line by a universal joint so as to permit the lower end of said pipe and the connected nozzle to be swung in any desired direction, an arm having one end connected to said nozzle, mechanism connected to the other end of said arm for moving said arm alternately in opposite directions, said arm and mechanism acting to move said nozzle back and forth across the path of said slabs, a movably mounted guideway, said nozzle slidably attached to said guideway and arranged so as to move along said guideway causing said guideway to direct the course of said nozzle in its back and forth swing, said guideway mounted to swing in a plane parallel to the plane in which said slabs move, means for positioning said guideway obliquely with respect to the line of movement of the slabs and for alternating the position of said guideway at each reversal of movement of said nozzle, an air cylinder included in said latter mentioned means, a reciprocating piston operated by said air cylinder, said piston connected to said guideway so as to move said guideway into said alternate oblique positions in said plane, a control for said latter mentioned means connected with said pipe and nozzle, and a main power drive for said barker, said slab moving means and said mechanism operated from said main power drive.

5. In a slab barker of the character described, conveyor chains for moving the slabs longitudinally through the barker, a hydraulic debarking nozzle, said nozzle positioned above said conveyor chains and adapted to discharge a debarking jet downwardly on the slabs, means for delivering Water under pressure to said nozzle, an arm having one end connected to said nozzle, mechanism connected to the other end of said arm for moving said arm alternately in opposite directions, said arm and mechanism acting to move said nozzle back and forth across the path of said slabs, guiding means, said nozzle slidably attached to said guiding means and arranged so as to move along said guiding means causing said guiding means to direct the course of said nozzle in its back and forth movement, said guiding means mounted to swing in a plane parallel to the plane in which said slabs move, mechanism attached to said guiding means for positioning said guiding means obliquely with respect to the line of movement of the slabs and for alternating the position of said guiding means at each reversal of movement of said nozzle, an air cylinder included in said latter mentioned mechanism, a reciprocating piston operated by said air cylinder, said piston connected to said guiding means so as to move said guiding means into said alternate oblique positions in said plane, a control for the delivery of air into said cylinder connected with said pipe and nozzle, and a main power drive for said barker, said conveyor chains and said first mentioned mechanism operated from said main power drive.

6. A slab barker of the character described including means for moving the slabs longitudinally through the barker, a hydraulic debarkin nozzle, said nozzle positioned above said slab moving means and adapted to discharge a debarking jet downwardly on the slabs, a delivery pipe connected to said nozzle, a supply pipe line connected to said delivery pipe, said delivery pipe connected to said pipe line by a universal joint '50 as to permit the lower end of said pipe and the connected nozzle to be swung in any desired direction, means connected to said pipe for swinging said pipe and nozzle back and forth across the path of said slabs, a movably mounted guideway, said nozzle slidably attached to said guideway and arranged so as to move along said guide way causing said guideway to direct the course of said nozzle in its back and forth swing, said guideway mounted to swing in a plane parallel to the plane in which said slabs move, means for positioning said guideway obliquely with respect to the line of movement of the slabs and for alternating the position of said guideway at each reversal of movement of said nozzle, an air cylinder included in said latter mentioned means, a reciprocating piston operated by said air cylinder, said piston connected to said guideway so as to move said guideway into said alternate oblique positions in said plane, a control for the delivery of air into said cylinder connected with said pipe and nozzle, and a main power drive for said barker, said slab moving means and said means for swinging said pipe and nozzle operated from said main power drive.

'7. A slab barker of the character described including conveyor chains for moving the slabs 1ongitudinally through the barker, a hydraulic debarking nozzle, said nozzle positioned above said conveyor chains and adapted to discharge a debarking jet downwardly on the slabs, a delivery pipe connected to said nozzle, a supply pipe line connected to said delivery pipe, said deliver pipe suspended from said pipe line by a universal joint so as to permit the lower end of said pipe and the connected nozzle to be swung in any desired direction, means for swinging said pipe and nozzle back and forth across the path of said slabs, said means including an arm having one end connected to said nozzle, a pair of parallelly-mo-unted chains driven in unison, a cross member connected to said chains, said arm connected to said cross member, guiding means, said nozzle slidably attached to said guiding means and arranged to move along said guiding means causing said guiding means to direct the course of said nozzle in its back and forth swing, said guiding means mounted to swing in a plane parallel to the plane in which said slabs move, mechanism attached to said guiding means for positioning said guiding means obliquely with respect to the line of movement of the slabs and for alternating the position of said guiding means at each reversal of movement of said nozzle, a control for said mechanism connected with said pipe and nozzle, a main power drive for said barker, said conveyor chains and said pair of parallelly-mounted chains operated from said main power drive, and a housing shield for restricting the scattering of bark fragments during the debarking operation.

8. A slab barker comprising means for moving the slabs longitudinally through the barker, a hydraulic debarking nozzle, said nozzle positioned above said slab moving means and adapted to discharge a debarking jet downwardly on the slabs, means for delivering water under pressure to said nozzle, an arm having one end connected to said nozzle, mechanism connected to the other end of said arm for moving said arm alternately in opposite directions, a movably mounted guideway, said nozzle slidably attached to said guideway and arranged so as to move along said guideway causing said guideway to direct the course of said nozzle in it's back and forth swing, said guideway mounted to swing in a plane parallel to the plane in which said slabs move, means for positioning said guideway obliquely with respect to the line of movement of the slabs and for alternating the position of said guideway at each reversal of movement of said nozzle, an air cylinder included in said latter mentioned means, a reciprocating piston operated by said air cylinder, said piston connected to said guideway so as to move said guideway into said alternate oblique positions in said plane, a control for the delivery of air into said cylinder connected with said pipe and nozzle, a main power drive for said barker, said slab moving means and said mechanism operated from said main power drive, and a plurality of discs adapted to rest on said slabs during the barking operation to keep said slabs in place on said slab moving means.

9. A slab barker comprising conveyor chains for moving the slabs longitudinally through the barker, a hydraulic debarking nozzle, said nozzle positioned above said conveyor chains and adapted to discharge a debarking jet downwardly on the slabs, a delivery pipe connected to said nozzle, a supply pipe line connected to said delivery pipe, said delivery pipe suspended from said pipe line by a universal joint so as to permit the lower end of said pipe and the connected nozzle to be swung in any desired direction, an arm having one end connected to said nozzle, a pair of parallellymounted chains driven in unison, a cross member connected to said chains, said arm connected to said cross member, a movably mounted guideway, said nozzle slidably attached to said guideway and arranged so as to move along said guideway causing said guideway to direct the course of said nozzle in its back and forth swing, said guideway mounted to swing in a plane parallel to the plane in which saidslabs move, mechanism attached to said guideway for positioning said guideway obliquely with respect to the line of movement of the slabs and for alternating the position of said guideway at each reversal of movement of said nozzle, a control for said mechanism connected with said pipe and nozzle, a main power drive for said barker, said conveyor chains and said pair of parallelly-mounted chains operated from said main power drive, a plurality of discs adapted to rest on said slabs during the barking operation to keep said slabs in place on said conveyor chains, and a shower for washing bark fragments from the slabs after the debarking operation.

FRANK H. SWIFT 

